Embracing The Future
by Towermon222
Summary: Some find the future a scary thing, but Cloud and Tifa mean to run towards it head on, but will the past come back to haunt them? Part 1 of a bigger story to come.


This is the first in a line of Final Fantasy VII stories that I'm going to write that will lead up to a full-fledged sequel. This one follows Cloud and Tifa and takes place after Dirge of Cerberus (I don't care if you don't like the game, it's still cannon). All characters are wearing their outfits from Advent Children (I don't care if you don't like the movie, it's still cannon, and still better than _Final Fantasy: Spirits Within_ ), except Yuffie who wears her outfit from DoC. I will be making mention of Aeris is in this story as well as character named Aerith, my apologies if it get's confusing but I will try my best to prevent that. All Final Fantasy VII characters belong to Square Enix.

Embracing the Future

7th Heaven

Tifa was wiping down the bar and whistling to herself, it was a slow day and she was alone. Marlene was with her dad at his oil field to "learn the family business" as he put it, and Denzel and Shelke were at the WRO where they assisted from time to time.

Just as she finished wiping the bar, she heard the surprising rev of a motorcycle as it pulled up outside. She looked up in time to see its owner entering; it was none other than Cloud.

Tifa smiled at the sight of him as he approached the bar and took a seat. Sometime after the curing of the Geostigma she and Cloud had started dating. They didn't get to do much with their schedules being the way they were, but they cared a lot for each other and tried to spend every moment they could spare together.

"Cloud," she said in joyful surprise, "I didn't expect you back so soon."

"Well, I got done early," he said as he sat his sword down against the wall, "thought I'd hurry back and come see you."

"Oh really," Tifa asked with a mischievous smile, "you came back for little old me."

"You're worth coming back for." he said with a small smile as he took a seat at the bar.

Tifa couldn't help but blush and smile back.

"I was wondering," said Cloud, "if you don't have plans tonight, I have something important I'd like to talk to you about."

"I don't think I have any plans," said Tifa, "where should we meet?"

"Aeris's Church." said Cloud.

"Oh," said Tifa a little surprised, "it's been awhile since we went _there_ together."

"Well," said Cloud, "what we need to talk about needs the right atmosphere."

"Alright," said Tifa, "can I ask exactly what we'll be talking about."

Cloud gave a small smile as got up from his seat, "If I told you that, it would ruin the mystery."

Cloud started to make his way out the door as Tifa yelled, "I could go without mysteries for a while."

With that, Tifa heard the Fenrir drive away, and she sighed.

"Been dating for years now," she mumbles to herself, "and yet he still keeps his secrets."

Aeris's Church, Sector 5

Tifa arrived at the church to see the Fenrir was already outside.

 _"Cloud's not only on time,"_ she thought, _"he's early. Wonder what's so important that he would over prepare?"_

She entered the worn and old building that was still near crumbling even so many years after Meteor Fall.

Inside she saw cloud sitting on the altar, the Buster Sword leaning against the wall behind him.

"Good," he said, "you're here."

"Did you think I wouldn't show?" she asked.

"No," he said with his small smile, "just thinking out loud I suppose. Take a seat."

He gestures to the spot next to him. Tifa walked over and took the seat.

"So, what's up?" she asks.

Cloud smiles again.

"I've been thinking lately," he said, "maybe we should hire another delivery person, so that I can stay around more often."

"Oh," said Tifa, slightly surprised, "I guess we could do that. What brought this on?"

"I just think that I've been away a lot, and we both have schedules that we have to compete with, and I could stand to stay close a little more often."

"Well yeah, but any other reasons?" asked Tifa.

Cloud paused, he looked like he was thinking, and then he said as his eyes moved to look at the Buster Sword, "Do you remember when I basically thought I was Zach?"

Tifa hadn't really looked at the sword much since they put it in the church, at that time it was rusted and in disrepair. Since then Cloud had come here several times to polish and repair it.

"Yeah," she said, "that was all because of Mako Sickness."

"True," said Cloud, "and since then I've found who I used to be, but I sometimes think back on that time and wonder how worse it could've been without you."

Tifa blushed, "And what conclusion do you come to."

Cloud turned and looked at his girlfriend with a smile, "I never want to find out."

He put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a small square box, he then opened it. Inside was a beautiful ring.

"Tifa Lockheart," said Cloud, "will you marry me?"

The girl was almost left speechless, but she finally managed to say, tears welling up in her eyes, "Yes, yes, a million times yes!"

She wrapped her arms around the man she loved in a warm in embrace that quickly turned into a passionate kiss.

She hoped this felling would never end.

 _Two Years Later..._

7th Heaven

Tifa and Cloud had had a small wedding six months after he proposed. It had been a pretty small ceremony, friends and family only.

Afterwards they hired more help with the bar and the delivery service, this let both of them spend much more time with each other,

They also added onto the bar with a living space, and added a garage to keep the Fenrir in along with the two delivery trucks they were able to buy for cheap from Cid (where _he_ got them is another story). They built a new master bedroom as well, keeping the other rooms for Denzel, Marlene, and occasionally Shelke when she was around

And it was from the master bedroom that late one night they heard a knock from the door. Neither Cloud nor Tifa were very deep into their sleep yet, so they both got up to answer the knock.

Tifa slipped on a white house robe while Cloud slipped on a pair of house pants.

They quickly made their way to the door just as the knock sounded again.

They opened the door and were met with an odd sight. Before them stood their friend Vincent Valentine holding a baby wrapped up in his cape.

"Evening." he said in his deep monotone.

"Evening." the couple said with surprise in their voices.

There was a moment before Vincent asked, "May I come in?"

"Oh," said Tifa, "yes of course."

Vincent walked in, the baby still cooing in his arms, and he took a seat on a bar stool.

It didn't take long for Cloud to address the elephant in the room.

"Alright," said Cloud, "I'll just come out and ask, when do you get a kid?"

It was a pretty reasonable question, they'd only seen Vincent twice since the wedding and the last time was roughly 10 months ago.

"I found her abandoned in the middle of nowhere crying." said Vincent as he rocked the little child, it was kind of an odd sight to say the least.

"Aw," said Tifa, "it's a little girl?"

"Why would someone just leave her?" asked Cloud.

"I thought it might have something to do with this." he said as he moved part of the cape off the baby's head to reveal a set of small horns.

"Wow," said Tifa, "that's certainly odd, still no reason to abandon a baby."

"So why did you bring her here?" asked Cloud, "Leaving her with us?"

"No," said Vincent, "nothing so permanent. Maybe from time to time, but I want to take care of her. My main reason for coming here is that I need supplies to take care of her, and Yuffie said this would be the best place to come at this time of night."

"I think I can handle that," said Tifa, "Cloud, why don't you keep Vincent company while I take little...uh..."

"Lilith," said Vincent, "It was engraved on a metal tag that was the only thing I found on her."

"Alright," said Tifa, "I'll take Lilith, put her in something other than your cape and grab a few things to help you out."

Tifa then, carefully, took the small child only for her to immediately start crying.

Vincent stood up and looked at the little girl and simply said, "Shhh, little one, Mrs. Strife is one you can trust."

The baby immediately fell silent, and then began to coo.

Tifa smiled at Cloud, and then Vincent, and then walked up stairs.

Vincent sat back down; Cloud took a seat next to him.

"So you're really going to raise a kid?" asked Cloud.

Vincent sighed, "Mine is a lonely existence Cloud, and I keep myself separated from everyone because I don't exactly fit into a crowd."

"You said it, not me," said Cloud, "but what about the baby girl?"

"Correct me if I'm wrong,' said Vincent, "but horns don't normally grow out of the heads of children. I feel that she and I are connected somehow."

Cloud nodded, vaguely understanding.

"This'll also gives me a reason to come back to town every now and then." said Vincent.

Cloud chuckled a bit.

At that moment Tifa came back downstairs holding baby Lilith in one hand and diapers, baby formula, and Vincent's cape in the other.

"Here you go Vincent," said Tifa as she handed over the stuff and then Lilith, "Lilith is a very well behaved baby."

"Thank you," said Vincent as he stood up, "I should be going now."

He walked to the door at his usual pace.

"Don't be a stranger," said Tifa just as Vincent stepped out the door.

Once he was gone Cloud sighed.

"Wow," he said, "can you believe it, Vincent with a baby."

"I'm happy for him," said Tifa as she took the seat next to her husband, "he has someone to take care of now."

"He does seem pretty happy," said Cloud, "happier than I've ever seen him anyway."

"Have you..." said Tifa a little bit apprehensive about her question, "have you ever thought about us having kids?"

"Well we basically already do with Denzel and Marlene." said Cloud.

"They're great," said Tifa, "and though I do consider them family, I mean kids of our own."

Cloud paused for a moment to think about the question when he suddenly realized something.

"Tifa," said Cloud, "where did the diapers and baby formula come from?"

Tifa smiled, "I was wondering when you'd catch that."

Cloud turned to look at his wife.

"Cloud," she said, "I'm pregnant."

Cloud nearly jumped up out his seat.

He eventually managed to ask, "How far along?"

"A little more than a month," said Tifa, "I've secretly been stocking up on supplies while I tried to decide when to tell you. I've actually already told Marlene, and by extension Denzel and Barret, and Yuffie. That's why she told Vincent to come here."

There was a moment of silence before Tifa said, "You never answered the question."

Cloud refocused, "What?"

"Have you ever thought of having kids?" she repeated.

Cloud once again thought for a moment, and then smiled his half smile and took Tifa's hand in his own.

"I think," said Cloud, "as long as I am with you, I'm prepared for anything."

Tifa smile, and then wrapped the man she loved in a warm embraced, and they kissed passionately.

Once they separated they spent the rest of the night talking about days to come and their growing family.

 _8 Months Later..._

Wallace Oil Fields

Cloud pulled the Fenrir over in front of what appeared to be an irritated Barret.

His arms were crossed and he was tapping his foot impatiently.

This imposing stance might have been more effective if it wasn't for Marlene standing next to him mimicking the look.

It was rather cute, and it was added on to by the small grease stain on her face and clothes.

"Hello Barret," said Cloud as he got off the bike and held out a small box to the large man, "I brought the part you called for."

"I thank you for it," he said, "but you've got a baby on the way. You should be at home with that pretty little wife of yours."

"Yeah," said Marlene, "what would happen if she went into labor while you were all the way out here?"

"I'm sure everything is fine at home," said Cloud, "she's at home with Yuffie, if anything were to happen they'd call, and anyway Barret, I haven't talked to you in awhile."

Barret smiled, "Alright, follow me to my office, I gotta clean up Marlene anyway. Your wife would have a fit I sent her back covered in grease and oil."

Marlene gave a mischievous smile, "You're gonna have to catch me first!"

The girl ran away from both men.

"Dang it," said Barret as ran after his adopted daughter, "not this again."

Cloud couldn't help but smile as he jumped off his bike and ran to assist him mechanically handed friend.

 _Meanwhile..._

7th Heaven

Tifa was sitting comfortably on the sofa in her living room.

Cloud had asked her to take it easy so close to the due date, so she'd called Yuffie to help out around the bar.

Now, Tifa liked Yuffie, but the girl was being smothering.

At that moment the young ninja walked into the room.

"I just finished closing for lunch," she said, "do you need anything before I get cooking?"

"I'm fine Yuffie," said Tifa, "I finally got comfortable on the couch, and the little bundle of joy stopped playing hacky-sack with my kidneys."

"You sure," Yuffie asked, "I mean I could get a pillow, or a blanket, or..."

"Yuffie," Tifa interrupted, "I'm fine."

"Right." the girl said with nod as she started to walk to the kitchen.

Tifa was just about relax again when Yuffie suddenly came back.

"You're positive because I can cook for..."

"Yuffie!" shout Tifa in irritation.

The young ninja yelped and dashed into the kitchen.

Tifa sighed and relaxed back into her comfortable position.

This was bliss, she might've even closed her eyes and fallen asleep if it had it not been for a kick from the "bundle of joy."

"Oh," said a slightly annoyed but still smiling, "go to sleep you, we had a deal."

There was another kick.

"Come on," she said, "what do you..."

At that moment she felt a new sensation, one that she'd been expecting for a few days now.

"Oh no," said Tifa, "Oh god no! Not now!"

Tifa stood up as quickly as she could.

"Yuffie!" She yelled.

The young girl was in front of her in a flash.

"I knew you needed something," she said excitedly, "what is it, what do you need?"

"My water just broke." said Tifa, "I'm about to go into labor."

Yuffie's eyes went so wide Tifa thought they might pop out of her head.

"What," she shouted, "you mean right now?!"

"Yes right now," said Tifa, "why else would I be shouting!?"

"What do I do?!" Yuffie asked in a panic.

"Go to mine and Clouds room and grab the packed suitcase, bring a truck around, and while you do those things call Cloud." Tifa quickly shot off.

"Right." said Yuffie as she ran to the bedroom while pulling out her phone.

Once Yuffie was out of sight Tifa sighed, "So much for a peaceful day."

Wallace Oil Field

Cloud and Barret had manage to catch Marlene before she'd gotten too much dirtier, and Barret had gotten most of the grease and oil off her face and got her into some clean clothes.

"Well," said Cloud, "now that she's cleaned up, I should get her back to..."

It was at that moment that Cloud's cell phone rang.

"Dun, dun, duuuuun." said Marlene mimicking dramatic music.

"She's probably just calling to ask if I'm on my way home." said Cloud.

He pulled his phone out and was surprised to see Yuffie's number.

He quickly answered.

"Hey Yuffie," he said, "something wrong?"

"Depends," she said, "do you consider your wife's water breaking wrong?"

"What!?" said Cloud in alarm.

"Yeah," said Yuffie, "that was my reaction, too."

"Where are you?" he asked.

"I'm pulling a truck around to the front of the bar," she said, "once I get Tifa in it we are flooring it to the hospital, bare that in mind and _**GET YOUR ASS TO THE HOSPITAL!**_ "

The ninja hung up on him and he turned to look at Barret and Marlene.

"Tifa's water broke," he said, "I have to go now!"

He dashed out the door and ran towards his bike with the father and daughter behind him.

Cloud made a mad dash for the Fenrir and practically jumped onto it.

He started thing up and was about to take off when Barret stopped him.

"Cloud," He shouted, "you'll never make it back to the city in time on that bike."

"Then do you have a better idea!" shouted Cloud.

"Well…" started Barret.

"Reno!" shouted Marlene.

"What about him?" asked Cloud.

"Oh yeah," said Barret, "Reno stopped by to refuel the helicopter like he does every week."

"He also uses the time to slack off and sleep for a few hours." said Marlene.

"It should be close to the time when someone calls to yell at him to get to HQ," said Barret, "If we hurry we can catch him before he leaves."

"Sounds like a plan." said Cloud as he revved up his bike and drove as fast he could the other side of the oil field with Barret and Marlene quickly jumping in a truck and following him.

 _A few minutes later…_

Reno had just got off the phone with Reeve with only _slight_ hearing loss.

"Jeez," he said as he started to prepare the copter for take off, "guy can't even take a freaking nap."

At that moment he heard the approaching vehicles.

"What now?" he said with irritation.

Cloud, Barret, and Marlene pulled up.

"Well if it isn't the oil tycoon and the dad to-be," said Reno, "what's shakin'"

"No time!" said Cloud as he quickly pulled the Fenrir onto the copter.

"What are you doing!" shouted Reno.

"Cloud's gonna be a daddy!" squealed Marlene as she ran past Reno and took a seat on the copter."

"We need a lift to Edge." said Barret as he boarded.

Reno rolled his eyes and sighed, "Why didn't you say so? All aboard."

With everyone on the copter Reno took off in the direction of Edge.

 _A few minutes later…_

Edge

The Helicopter hovered above the city.

"Welcome to Edge," said Reno, "once I get the all clear to land on the hospital roof we'll…"

"No time." said Cloud as he walked over to the door.

"What are you…" Reno began to ask.

"Hang on Marlene." said Barret, who'd already figured out what his spiky headed friend was doing.

Cloud swung the door open and hopped on the Fenrir.

He drove out of the helicopter and landed wheels first on the road, and drove at breakneck speed in the direction of the hospital.

"What the hell!?" said Reno, "Friggin' psychopath."

Barret and Marlene just laughed.

At the Hospital…

Cloud parked his bike and ran inside to see Yuffie pacing back and forth.

"Yuffie." said Cloud as he ran up.

The young ninja spun around to see him.

"Cloud," she said with a sigh of relief, "thank God you're here."

"Sorry it took so long," he said, "where's Tifa?"

At that moment a loud scream could be heard throughout the maternity ward, and Cloud and Yuffie watched as a doctor was thrown from a room.

"Well _that's_ been happening for a while now." said Yuffie.

"Is she okay?" asked Cloud.

"She's pushing a small person out of her body," said Yuffie, "that sound okay to you?"  
"I have to get in their." said Cloud.

"Good luck." said Yuffie.

Cloud started walked towards the door when another doctor came flying out of the room.

"You'll need it." said Yuffie.

Cloud took a deep breath, shook his head, and continued on into his wife's room.

"That's one brave guy." said Yuffie.

At that moment Cloud was sent flying out of the room, but he immediately got back up and went back in.

"Well," she said, "Brave or really dumb."

A few hours later…

Cloud was smiling as he looked at his wife. She held their new bundle of joy, a little girl with wine colored eyes.

She was a gorgeous little baby, almost made the fact that Tifa had squeezed Cloud's hand so tight that a doctor had to bandage it up afterward worth it.

They had asked for a little time alone before all their friends came in.

"So," said Cloud, "we never did discussed a name."

"I know," said Tifa, "I kept planning to bring it up, but I always ended up putting it off."

"Okay," said Cloud, "what's a good name for a girl?"

"Umm, how about Miss Cloud?" Tifa said with a smile.

"Not funny." Cloud said with a scowl, "what about Kara?"

"No," said Tifa, "at one point I was considering Zach, but that's kind of gender specific."

"That's rather honorable," Cloud smiled, "and it gives me an idea."

"Oh?"

"What do you think of the name Aerith?"

Tifa smiled, "I love it."

She looked down at her beautiful baby, "Little Aerith."

 _5 Years Later…_

The 7th Heaven Bar

"Aerith Crystal Strife!" Tifa yelled at her daughter who was, at that moment, standing on the roof of 7th Heaven, "You get off that roof right now!"

"Aw, come on mom," the five year old called down, "the view is great up here."

A gust of wind blew, causing the girl's long blonde hair to go wild in the wind along with her white and blue dress.

"I don't care how great the view is, young lady," called Tifa, "get down from there before you hurt yourself."

"Mom," whined Aerith, "I'm not gonna…"

At the moment the small girl slipped on a roof tile a fell towards the ground.

Tifa gasped and ran to catch her, but out of nowhere, Cloud ran past her and caught his daughter before she hit the ground.

"Hi Dad." said Aerith with a big smile, not even fazed by what had just happened.

"Hey squirt," he said, "going places you shouldn't again?"

Tifa approached with a smile on her face, "I swear she gets it from you."

Cloud smiled back and the two kissed.

"Gross." said Aerith as she squirmed in her father's arms.

Cloud and Tifa laughed.

"Your playmate's here," said Cloud as he put his daughter down, "go have fun, we'll discuss your punishment later."

Aerith stuck her tongue out at her dad then ran to the front of the shop.

"Lilith spending the night again?" asked Tifa.

"Just for today," said Cloud, "Vincent will be here early tomorrow to pick her up, and come with us to that big open air marketplace that you've been dying to go to for a week now."

"Glad to here it," said Tifa, "now I have to finish opening up the bar, and you have two five year olds to keep an eye on."

The couple kissed, and then went the ways they needed to.

Cloud found the girls playing out in front of the bar.

Cloud assumed they were playing tag, but knowing them it would probably lead to fighting.

Lilith had really grown in the five years since Vincent had found her.

She now had shoulder length black hair, and her horns were now quite a bit longer, and curled up slightly. The outfit she wore looked very similar to her father's except smaller, but baggy, and with a skirt.

She also didn't show very much emotion.

"Don't hurt each other." said Cloud.

Aerith stopped to look at her father, "Why do you always say that?"

"Because I know my little girl likes to roughhouse." said Cloud.

Aerith gave a playful grin, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

The blond haired girl turn to look at Lilith.

"Do you know what he's talking about?" she asked as she punched her friend in the arm.

The horned girl, never one to show much emotion, gave Aerith an annoyed look.

"I will if you punch my arm again." she said.

"Oh yeah," said Aerith, "whatcha…" a punch to the arm, "…gonna…" another punch, "…do…"

With that, Lilith grabbed Aerith's incoming arm and flipped the blonde girl onto her front, after which she promptly sat on her.

"Hey!" yelled Aerith, "Lilith get off of me!"

"Nope." said the horned girl as she crossed her arms in a sort of pout.

Aerith looked up at her father.

"Dad," she said in a whiny voice, "get her off me."

"I don't know," Cloud said with a chuckle, "I think you look good from this angle."

"Please," she said even whinier, "get her off."

"Oh, alright," he said, "Lilith get off of her."

The horned girl rolled her eyes and stood up.

Aerith jumped up and acted like she might try to get even.

"Come on you two," said Cloud, "behave and I'll tell you a story."

This caused Aerith's eyes to light up.

"Really?" she asked with a sparkle in her eye.

"Sure," he said, "what story do you want to hear?"

"Oh, I wanna here Aunt Aeris's story."

Cloud smiled, "Again?"

"You've heard that story over a dozen times." said Lilith.

"Can I help if I really like it?" asked Aerith.

"It's fine," said Cloud, "I like the story, too."

Cloud started to tell the story of the Flower Girl who gave her life and helped save the world from Meteor.

Throughout the entire story Aerith didn't take her eyes off of her father, she always loved how he told the story.

Even Lilith, who'd heard the story just as many times as Aerith, couldn't help but be enthralled by the story.

As Cloud wrapped up his tale he saw Aerith gain a frown, not a sad frown, this was the look his daughter got when she was thinking hard about something.

"What's the matter squirt?" he asked.

"I was just thinking," she said, "why have you never taken me to Aeris's Church?"

Cloud was taken aback.

Had he really never taken his daughter to the place where he first met the flower girl, where they'd cure Geostigma, where the Bust sword was laid to rest, and where he proposed to Tifa?

How had something like that been forgotten?

The truth was deep down he just wasn't sure how his daughter would react there.

No avoiding it now thought.

He smiled at the girl, "Tell you what, sometime after our trip tomorrow you and I will take Fenrir out to the church."

"Really?" asked the girl, "You promise?"

"Cross my heart." he said as he made an X with finger over heart.

"Yes." the small girl said with a fist pump,

"Guys," called Tifa, "dinner's ready."

"Awesome." shouted Aerith as she ran into the house.

Lilith sighed and shook her head as she entered the house.

Cloud chuckled a smile never leaving his face as he entered the building to have dinner with his family.

 _The Next Day…_

The Traveling Bazaar temporarily outside Edge

The Strife family had gotten up early to get to the market, Vincent was already there when they got up and in the house having breakfast with his daughter.

Once the five of them got to the market, Vincent was kind enough to take the girls to the petting zoo, where Cloud had noticed they were selling baby chocobos.

He knew he'd regret it, but at the same time they had already punished her for the roof incident the day before, and she took it like a champ.

What was the worst that could happen anyway.

Cloud and Tifa were by themselves perusing the fruits and vegetables.

As boring as that sounds, Cloud was enjoying himself. That is until he suddenly felt uneasy.

Something bad was their.

He caught a glimpse of it out of corner of his eye, but when he turned to look it was gone.

"Cloud," said Tifa, "is something wrong?"

"Uh no," he said shaking off the feeling, "just my imagination."

They continued to look around the market, but a few hour later and the feeling was back.

This time Cloud turned to catch a glimpse of it.

 _"Was that,"_ thought Cloud, _"silver hair?"_

"What is it Cloud?" asked Tifa, a little worried now.

"I don't know," he said, "I just thought I saw…"

"Saw what?"

"No," said Cloud with a head shake, "it's nothing let's keep looking."

Now Tifa was uneasy, but they decided to continue on, but it was mere minutes before the feeling came back and Cloud spun around to finally see it.

The man had long silver hair in a ponytail, wore a black button-up shirt and black dress pants.

Cloud only saw him from behind before man walked away, but Cloud ran after, barely hearing his wife call out his name in shock.

Cloud had to find the man, had to know for sure if it was him.

After an hour he finally saw him, and just he was turning around.

At that moment, Cloud had wished he'd ignored the feeling, not seen the silver-haired man, not chased after him.

Standing before him, living and breathing, was Sephiroth.

He'd seen Cloud, too, the shock in his eyes evident, but when Cloud thought he'd fight…

He ran.

Cloud might've followed if Tifa hadn't grabbed his arm.

He turned to look at her.

"No," she said, "Cloud don't do this now, he'll kill you."

Cloud looked back to see no sign left of the old enemy, and the feeling had went away.

He looked at Tifa.

"Get Aerith," he said, "we need to go home."

 _A few hours later…_

7th Heaven

"What the hell doing you mean you're going?!" Tifa shouted at her husband, tears staining her cheeks.

They had made it back home a while ago, and as much as Cloud had wanted to let it go, he couldn't deny that he'd seen his old enemy.

Tifa knew that too and they had started fighting, sending Aerith outside to play with her new baby chocobo.

Vincent had left with Lilith about the time the shouting had started.

"You saw him, too," said Cloud calmly as he continued to pack, "if he's back, I have to find him and end this."

"Or for once in your life you could let someone else be the damn hero," Tifa shouted back, "why do you have to…"

"Do you think I want this!" Cloud yelled.

Tifa fell silent.

"I'm sorry," Cloud said, "but I have to do this, I'm the only one who can."

"He ran, Cloud, that _has_ to mean something."

"It does, but I won't know what until I get there and face him."

"And where would you be going?" asked Tifa, "Do you even know?"

"Some place that has meaning for both of us."

"And what about Aerith?!"

Cloud stopped.

"You think she's going to understand if you leave and never come back? She deserves some kind of explanation, doesn't she?"

Cloud managed to catch a glimpse of the girl out the window as she played with her pet.

"If I can't keep you from leaving, the least you can do is talk to your daughter."

Tifa left the room, Cloud sighed.

It wasn't much longer before he finished packing and made his way out to see his daughter petting her chocobo chick.

He approached her, and she looked up and frowned.

"He's pretty cute," said Cloud, smiling in an attempt to play off what he had to tell her, "what did you name him?"

"I named him Choco," she said, still frowning, "I thought it suited him."

The little bird chirped.

"He seems pretty happy about it," said the father, "but you seem to have that frown stuck on your face."

Aerith looked her father in the eyes.

"You're leaving aren't you?" she asked.

Cloud sighed and started to say something, but stopped short.

What did he say to explain what he had to do.

Then it hit him.

"Hey," he said, "let's go for a ride."

Sector 5

Cloud pulled up in front of the old church that he himself had spent a lot of time.

"Here we are," he said as he helped his daughter off the bike, "this is the place that Aeris spent all of her time."

The girl was silent as she walked in at her father's side, Choco sat in the girl's hair.

The water from the Geostigma Incident was still there, and Zach's sat in its resting place, much cleaner than it had been back then.

"This place is big." said Aerith as she and her father took a seat at the water's edge.

"Yeah," said Cloud, "and quite, sometimes I come here to think."

"About what?" asked the girl.

"The past, the present," he paused, "the future."

Aerith had placed Choco in he lap and was playing with the chick, probably to distract herself from the question she knew she needed to ask.

It didn't work.

"Why do you have to go?" she asked.

"How do you know I'm going?" asked Cloud.

"You have the 'look'," she said, "Mom says when you're about to leave and are worried about not making it back, you get a look in your eye. I didn't know what she meant until today."

Cloud sighed, this was the hard part.

"Aerith," he said, "I saw a man at the market today, he's a very bad man who hurt a lot of people. I thought he was gone, but now he's back and I'm scared…"

"You don't get scared." said the little girl.

Cloud smiled, "It's nice that you think that, but even dad gets scared every now and then. Right now I'm scared that this man will come here and hurt you, or your mom, or anyone I care about."

"But maybe he won't," she said, "maybe he doesn't want to be bad anymore, maybe he's just as scared as you are."

Cloud shook his head.

"I wish it was that simple, I wish he was nothing more than a bad memory, but he has to be stopped."

They both went quite, not a word to be said, until Aerith pointed at the Buster Sword.

"Is that the sword?"

"Yeah," said Cloud, "you want to see it?"

"Yeah."

Cloud walked over to the blade, he hadn't really touched the thing since he last polished and repaired it, and lifting it now always felt awkward.

He carried the thing over to Aerith and laid it on the ground in front of her.

She ran her hand over the blade.

"Hey," she said with a bit of determination in her voice as she placed Choco back atop her head and stood up, "if I can lift this will you stay."

"What?" Cloud asked.

"If I can lift your old sword with one hand will you stay with me and Mom?"

Cloud didn't know what to say, but eventually he frowned and nodded.

The little girl grabbed the sword with her right hand and tried to lift. Cloud could tell she was really trying and struggling, and deep down there was a part of him that hoped she could do it.

But it was not be as he grip slipped and she nearly fell backwards into the water.

Cloud quickly caught her, and the little girl had streams of tears going down her face.

Even the little chocobo chick was trying to comfort her.

"I don't want you to go." she cried.

Cloud held his daughter tight, "And I wish I didn't have to, sweetheart, but this is a demon that I have to get rid of, a thing from the past that needs to be put where it belongs. I know you're not old enough to fully understand any of this yet, but one day you will.

Aerith had finally stopped crying and Cloud placed her back on the ground.

"It's getting late," said Cloud, "I should get you back to your mother and be on my way."

He started leave but Aerith had one last thing to say.

"Dad," she said some tears still falling down her face, "I'm going to train, I'm going to become so strong that when you get back I'll be able to wield the Buster Sword one-handed, so that the next time anything like this happens, _I_ can protect _you._ "

Cloud couldn't help but smile.

"Then I guess I'll have to be sure to make it back then, won't I?"

Aerith smiled and followed her father out the door.

By the time Cloud got Aerith home, she had fallen asleep. So Cloud tucked her in with Choco close by and gave Tifa a goodbye kiss.

The martial artist was crying the entire time as she watched the man she love ride away on Fenrir.

The Forgotten City

Cloud drove through the familiar dark woods. He hadn't been in them since his fight with Kadaj and his gang. He half expected to see Vincent and Lilith jump out and convince him to turn around, but they never came.

However, as he neared his location, he found himself standing in a field of flowers and a woman at his back.

"Hello Cloud," said Aeris with sadness in her voice, "for once, I was hoping you wouldn't come."

"I had to," he said, "this has to end."

"But why does it have to end with your swords crossed, and only one walking away?"

"I…I can't answer that."

"I see," said Aeris with slyness in he voice, "so can you answer this, if you can change so much in so little time, can _he_?"

Cloud turned to ask what she meant but found himself back on the Fenrir, headed towards his destination.

He finally reached the clearing with the pool that he'd laid Aeris to rest in all those years ago.

Sephiroth stood waiting, dressed as he had been the last time they'd fought.

Cloud got off his bike, full Fusion Sword already on his back.

"Cloud." said the silver haired man.

Cloud took a place across from him, ready to fight, but there was something in the way that the old enemy spoke, that made him sound questioning.

"You know why I'm here." said Cloud.

"Yes," Sephiroth said has began to pulled out the Masamune, "I do."

There it was again, was that… regret?

Cloud pulled out his own blade as pointed it at Sephiroth, and the one-winged angel

"Well, then…"

Edge

It had been three months since anyone had seen Cloud.

Tifa stood in her kitchen cleaning dishes when Marlene and Denzel walked in.

"Hey Tifa," said Marlene with a sad smile, "we came by to check on you and Aerith."

Tifa returned the smile, "That's very sweet of you, but we're fine."

"We know how hard this must be," said Denzel, "we just want to try and help."

"Yeah," said Marlene, "is there anything we can help with?"

"Well, if you'd like, Aerith's been up in her room all day, maybe you could take her out until lunch?"

"We could totally do that," said Denzel, "what are older siblings for, after all."

"I'll go get her." said Marlene as she took to the stairs.

"I really appreciate it guys." said Tifa.

"It's no problem," said Denzel, "and if you want, me and Marlene could move back in for a little…"

"Oh my god!" yelled Marlene as she came running down the stairs.

"Marlene. What's wrong?" asked Tifa with worry.

"Aerith's not in her room and the window's open," said the teen, "I think she ran away, even her little chocobo's gone."

"Oh no," said Tifa before looking at her surrogate son, "Denzel call everyone, see if anyone has seen her, and Marlene, check around Edge, she might've just gone to a park or something."

"Right." said both teens as they ran to do their jobs.

Hours later, there was still no sign of her, and Tifa was really starting to worry.

She started to think, where could she have gone in this city?

But what if it wasn't _this_ city, what if she…

And then it hit her, Tifa ran out the door and hopped in a truck, she was pretty sure she knew exactly where her daughter went.

Sector 5

Tifa parked the truck just outside the church, she could already hear Aerith's voice inside.

She walked in, only to see her daughter trying to lift the Buster Sword off the floor.

Choco was just behind her sort of cheering her on.

"Aerith," said Tifa, "what are you doing?"

"I made dad a promise." the girl said as she continued to try to lift the sword, "I told him that when he got back I'd be able to use this sword with one hand."

Tifa frowned, she knew the chance of Cloud coming back.

"Sweetie," the mother began, "your father…"

"I doesn't _matter_ if he never comes back!" said Aerith tears beginning to fall from eyes, "I made a promise, I don't care if takes the rest of my life, I will be strong enough to protect him!"

To Tifa's amazement, the back end of the sword just barley begins to lift off the ground, but just as soon as it happened it ended as the 5 year old lost her grip and fell on her rear.

The girl still had tears in her eyes, but also a look of determination that made her look a lot like…

Aerith got back on her feet and started to try and lift the sword again.

Tifa couldn't help but smile, looks like Cloud isn't all gone after all.

 _11 Years Later_

Sector 5

Aerith stood in the church looking at the Buster Sword before her.

She wore a sleeveless black shirt with only one shoulder strap and it didn't cover her stomach, and beneath that was a white, strapless undershirt.

Her legs were covered by pair of black shorts that reached just below her knees, and around her waist was tied a black jacket.

On her left shoulder was shoulder pad like her dad used have, and she wore a black fingerless gloves on either hand but her left was also wrapped in several belts and straps that stopped just below her elbow.

Her body was very similar to her mother's, slim and fit, but her chest was a bit more modest.

Her hair was more like her dad's, so much so that she'd cut her hair short, now only reaching the end of her neck.

The girl reached out and touched the blade before her, she could almost feel the energy of every person who wielded it before her.

She heard the distinctive "kweh" of Choco outside, signaling that someone was approaching.

She turned to see her older brother Denzel entering the building.

He had turn out a very handsome man, and well built, too.

He wore an outfit similar to what Cloud had wore when he was a Soldier, but the shirt was brown and so were the gloves, but you could still make out his wedding ring.

His marriage to Marlene had had a beautiful ceremony.

He smiled at Aerith.

"You ready for your first mission?" he asked as he gripped the long sword on his hip.

Aerith smiled as she grabbed the Buster Sword with her right hand, and only her right hand lifting it with ease. She preformed a few practice slices around herself, and then placed it on her back.

She smiled.

"I'm ready."

Denzel smiled, "Then Aerith Strife, I welcome you into the WRO's New Avalanche."


End file.
